Basketball from a fans perspective
Consider
Dwight Howard was once projected to become the next great center in the NBA? Somewhere in his NBA journey this conviction many of the NBA community never materialized. Sure he’s a talented athlete but the best center in the NBA that’s certainly questionable. 6-11 265 Howard was drafted directly from high school and became the top pick in the 2004 draft by the Magic. The raw talent he displayed early on never improved in the eyes of many. Howard never managed to develop a low post offensive game.
Howard’s defense and rebounding have remained steady and are unquestionably above average. Many questioned why Howard would leave the Lakers; I will repeat my earlier statement. It was an easy choice for him to join the Rockets. Howard would have far less pressure he wouldn’t be expected to be the man in Houston. As for his status Bleacher Report’s Adam Fromal provided his list of top players at each position beginning with the center, power forward, small forward, shooting guard and point guard. As for the centers Howard comes in 5th place on Fromal’s listing.
Is this sacrilege?
Was former Pacer and TNT analyst just running his mouth (as usual some might say). In an interview on Dan Patrick’s Show he claims a hypothetical draft “I'd take Larry Bird over ___________.” I’ve stated on more than one occasion it’s foolish to compare athletes from different eras. I didn't start this Reggie Miller did so look at the numbers. Bird played from 1979 to 1992 and “He whose name shall not be spoken” was drafted in 2003. Bird is a little taller (6-9 versus 6-8), Bird played at 225 pounds compared to 250 pounds for “He whose name.”
If we just look at player stats they are closer than most might first believe. It would be foolish to compare NBA Championships because there are other factors that might impact winning as opposed to losing. The area most interesting for me was assist numbers, for his career Bird was 6.3 a game and two seasons he was 8.6. As for “He” the career number is 7.1 slightly higher but he’s only been at 8.6 once. We might be led to believe “He” was a superior passer. We might assume “He” would rebound the ball better again not so; Bird for his career was 10.0 while “He” is 7.1.
I’m curious
The basketball world is wildly excited about Thon Maker despite the fact there is no guarantee of future success. At 7 foot and a razor-thin 218 pounds the youngster appears to have all the tools and colleges are salivating waiting intently on his declaration. I was checking ESPN Recruiting Nation and discovered what I believed was an unusual occurrence. Maker is listed as a 5-star prospect and honored with a 97 grade (the highest grade they award) yet he shows up nowhere on their 2016 Top 100 prospects. The crossover I wrote of on the July 29th edition the writer says it was Iverson worthy. Check it out for yourself on YouTube or some other site. Other scouting sites list his name and ranking in the class so my curiosity was peaked. I wondered if the issue existed because he’s not playing basketball in the U.S.
He and his brother began their basketball career in Australia the Makers’ emigrated to the U.S. and continued play. In 2014 he and younger brother Matur (6-10) enrolled at the Athletic Institute Basketball Academy in Orangeville Ontario Canada. I’m going to give ESPN Recruiting Nation a break, perhaps with all the youngsters playing basketball it might be too difficult to grade all especially those outside the continental U.S. I just hope we are not disappointed by Thon‘s continued development. Recently I read a comment which almost floored me; “He’s (Maker) a 7-1 Kevin Durant” which is a very powerful statement. Up to this point I’d never read any comparisons to an NBA player. I’d almost rather an athlete do a Scottie Pippen or Damian Lillard on me, emerge as an unknown commodity and then became exceptional in the NBA. I don‘t know about you maybe it‘s only me.
Bits n Pieces
Until I hear the words come from his mouth I don’t know what to believe, I’m referring to the Knicks Carmelo Anthony. One report states “He’s upset with the Knicks draft selections.” The next one says “that’s untrue.” Now the latest revelation through former Knick and current broadcaster Walt Frazier; “Carmelo is not happy with Knicks
off-season.” Finally new (and former) teammate Arron Affalo says “He believes Anthony is optimistic about this season in New York.“ Stay tuned for further developments.
Ray Allen age 40 claims he’s not retired after sitting out last season. There were reports he intended to play after the All-Star game but those proved to be incorrect. I think we all can agree training camp can be a grind and maybe he’s not up to that. Could a February 2016 return be in his future? Don’t you imagine the Cavs could use a sniper off the bench to replace the mercurial* J.R. Smith? *changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic are several the definitions for the word by Dictionary.com
I question this move although it’s clearly on UCLA more than the athlete. In an earlier account I reported on the Ball brothers, 13-year old LaMelo has “verbally” committed to UCLA. Okay both older brothers are headed to UCLA we get that but one is a senior and the other a junior in high school. This has nothing to do with the youngsters’ skill level it’s more on UCLA. You history buffs are going to inform me in 1986 Indiana’s Bobby Knight recruited Damon Bailey when he was in the 8th grade. Guess what that was wrong as well.
